Abstract

The paper analyses the relationship between interest and profit and endeavours to apply the "monetary " theory of distribution to the American case. After an overview of the main features of the theory, the paper focuses on the American recent experience of cheap money as an interesting example of interest rate determination in terms of sets of objectives and constraints on the action of the monetary authorities. Special attention is then given to the positive impact of cheap money on consumption, both through income distribution and through household debt-service burden relative to income. Finally, it is argued that the policy followed by the Federal Reserve since 1995 reveals a clear awareness of its real effects on the part of that monetary authority.